What do you think?
Rate this book
Over the Plain Houses
An NPR Book of the Year | Winner of the 2017 Southern Book Prize
Gold IPPY Award | Indie Next Pick, May 2016
It’s 1939, and the federal government has sent USDA agent Virginia Furman into the North Carolina mountains to instruct families on modernizing their homes and farms. There she meets farm wife Irenie Lambey, who is immediately drawn to the lady agent’s self-possession. Already, cracks are emerging in Irenie’s fragile marriage to Brodis, an ex-logger turned fundamentalist preacher: She has taken to night ramblings through the woods to escape her husband’s bed, storing strange keepsakes in a mountain cavern. To Brodis, these are all the signs that Irenie—tiptoeing through the dark in her billowing white nightshirt—is practicing black magic.
When Irenie slips back into bed with a kind of supernatural stealth, Brodis senses that a certain evil has entered his life, linked to the lady agent, or perhaps to other, more sinister forces.
Working in the stylistic terrain of Amy Greene and Bonnie Jo Campbell, this mesmerizing and award-winning debut by Julia Franks is the story of a woman intrigued by the possibility of change, escape, and reproductive choice—stalked by a Bible-haunted man who fears his government and stakes his integrity upon an older way of life. As Brodis chases his demons, he brings about a final act of violence that shakes the entire valley. In this spellbinding Southern story, Franks bares the myths and mysteries that modernity can’t quite dispel.
Gold IPPY Award | Indie Next Pick, May 2016
It’s 1939, and the federal government has sent USDA agent Virginia Furman into the North Carolina mountains to instruct families on modernizing their homes and farms. There she meets farm wife Irenie Lambey, who is immediately drawn to the lady agent’s self-possession. Already, cracks are emerging in Irenie’s fragile marriage to Brodis, an ex-logger turned fundamentalist preacher: She has taken to night ramblings through the woods to escape her husband’s bed, storing strange keepsakes in a mountain cavern. To Brodis, these are all the signs that Irenie—tiptoeing through the dark in her billowing white nightshirt—is practicing black magic.
When Irenie slips back into bed with a kind of supernatural stealth, Brodis senses that a certain evil has entered his life, linked to the lady agent, or perhaps to other, more sinister forces.
Working in the stylistic terrain of Amy Greene and Bonnie Jo Campbell, this mesmerizing and award-winning debut by Julia Franks is the story of a woman intrigued by the possibility of change, escape, and reproductive choice—stalked by a Bible-haunted man who fears his government and stakes his integrity upon an older way of life. As Brodis chases his demons, he brings about a final act of violence that shakes the entire valley. In this spellbinding Southern story, Franks bares the myths and mysteries that modernity can’t quite dispel.
280 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2016
129 people are currently reading
5957 people want to read
About the author
Julia Franks
2 books59 followersJulia Franks is the author of The Say So (forthcoming in June with Hub City Press) and Over the Plain Houses (Hub City Press), an NPR Best Book of 2016 that also won five prestigious literary prizes (the Townsend Prize for Georgia fiction, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Award, the SIBA Southern Book Prize, Georgia Author of the Year, and the IPPY Gold Medal). She's also published stories and essays in The New York Times, Ms. Magazine, The Bitter Southerner, and other places. She lives in Atlanta.
Julia writes, "The most common question folks ask me is what my favorite books are. Immediately upon hearing this question, my mind goes blank. Always. So that's where Goodreads comes in. Listed here are my very favorite books: ones that have deeply affected me in some way, changed my life, or inspired me to try new things in my own writing. The novels I tend to love the most are those that reach toward the archetypal. Many contain elements of myth and magic. All of them have become part of my permanent mental landscape."
Julia writes, "The most common question folks ask me is what my favorite books are. Immediately upon hearing this question, my mind goes blank. Always. So that's where Goodreads comes in. Listed here are my very favorite books: ones that have deeply affected me in some way, changed my life, or inspired me to try new things in my own writing. The novels I tend to love the most are those that reach toward the archetypal. Many contain elements of myth and magic. All of them have become part of my permanent mental landscape."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
November 15, 2016
When thinking about how to rate this book, I wavered between 4 and 5 stars. What tipped it over the edge was when I realized that this is a book I will most likely re-read at some point.
It is unbelievable that this is a first novel. The quality of the writing is haunting and believable at the same time. The natural world surrounding these people in the Appalachians in 1939 is depicted so beautifully it can take your breath away. The dissolution of the marriage between Irenie and Brodis is also realistically portrayed. Irenie needs to be valued by her husband as more than a soul in need of salvation, while Brodis sinks deeper and deeper into his religious beliefs. I love that the author chose to make Brodis a sympathetic man who loved his wife and son, but couldn't see the world in front of him because of his fanaticism with the word of God.
There's a lot more in this novel about mountain people; change versus retaining the old ways, the value of education, the love between a man and woman working hard to survive and prosper, and the need for women to be accepted as more than men's property.
There's also a good story, well told, with a good and appropriate ending. Definitely recommended. This was recommended to me by GR friend Laura Webber, for which she gets 5 stars as well.
It is unbelievable that this is a first novel. The quality of the writing is haunting and believable at the same time. The natural world surrounding these people in the Appalachians in 1939 is depicted so beautifully it can take your breath away. The dissolution of the marriage between Irenie and Brodis is also realistically portrayed. Irenie needs to be valued by her husband as more than a soul in need of salvation, while Brodis sinks deeper and deeper into his religious beliefs. I love that the author chose to make Brodis a sympathetic man who loved his wife and son, but couldn't see the world in front of him because of his fanaticism with the word of God.
There's a lot more in this novel about mountain people; change versus retaining the old ways, the value of education, the love between a man and woman working hard to survive and prosper, and the need for women to be accepted as more than men's property.
There's also a good story, well told, with a good and appropriate ending. Definitely recommended. This was recommended to me by GR friend Laura Webber, for which she gets 5 stars as well.
August 27, 2016
I am so impressed with Franks' debut novel --it reads like that of a seasoned author. The novel showcases her skill and maturity at crafting story arcs that flow into each other like eddies in a stream. It is a beautifully written book and a sheer pleasure to read.
And the imagery is superb, grounded in the setting's rural feel: lush, ethereal, and pregnant with unspoken thoughts. It perfectly captures the main characters' bucolic lives and attitudes. I cannot recommend this book enough.
And the imagery is superb, grounded in the setting's rural feel: lush, ethereal, and pregnant with unspoken thoughts. It perfectly captures the main characters' bucolic lives and attitudes. I cannot recommend this book enough.
September 11, 2019
”It was the week before Easter when the lady agent first showed up to church. When the gray coupe rolled past, the first thing Irenie Lambey noticed wasn’t that a woman was driving but that a sculpted angel leapt straight out from the grill, her head raised and her back arched, silvery wings sweeping behind her as if she were about to take flight.”
Set in North Carolina’s Appalachian region in 1939, a time when half the people rode horses or mules, while others drove automobiles to church - and then worried about whether or not to park near the animals – the town had known this woman was coming to their area, but most of them had already decided that they did not need, nor want, her help.
Irenie is immediately drawn to the self-assurance of this woman, to come to this place alone, unafraid of the opinions of others, not particularly caring of their opinion of her. She’s there to help them, teach them how modernizing their farms and their homes would be beneficial. Through her son’s love of learning, Irenie comes to know, and eventually to confide in, this woman – Virginia Furman. Their time spent talking, moments of friendship shared are the only time she has to try and determine what she wants for her own life. Her own marriage to Brodis, a fire and brimstone style fundamentalist preacher has begun to feel like a noose around her throat that has become uncomfortably tight, and so she walks, alone, at night. Brodis becomes convinced she is consorting with the devil and practicing witchcraft.
There is something about the time, the setting, the grittiness of the place, the people and the lives lived there that reminded me a bit of the writing of Bonnie Jo Campbell, and the characters she creates. People that are brought to life on the page so simply, but completely that you understand their feelings, anticipate their actions and appreciate their insights on life.
If this debut novel has any faults, it occasionally dawdles in places, and wanders in a seemingly aimless, purposeless way. On the other hand, it’s an unflinching glimpse of these imperfect women who are strong, smart, and inspiring.
July 31, 2024
If I were to judge based on pretty writing that leads nowhere, then this book takes the cake, candles, and all. Each page marked a beautifully descriptive scene that made me feel like an ass. Because all I could think was “god move onnnn already!!”
It starts off with a USDA agent, a woman at that, setting up in a small Appalachian town of god-fearing folks. I was so ready for it. I also thought some dark Southern gospel might be mixed with dark forest magic.
And nope, nope, nope. It’s a puttering tale, with no motivation behind a plot to drive the story forward.
I still don’t know what it was about, but it was nothing at all related to what I mentioned above.
It starts off with a USDA agent, a woman at that, setting up in a small Appalachian town of god-fearing folks. I was so ready for it. I also thought some dark Southern gospel might be mixed with dark forest magic.
And nope, nope, nope. It’s a puttering tale, with no motivation behind a plot to drive the story forward.
I still don’t know what it was about, but it was nothing at all related to what I mentioned above.
June 8, 2016
Haunting and I loved it. Some sensitive content. This author's debut novel is excellent. The details are perfect to the point everything can be visualized.
April 17, 2016
Irenie Lambey is a dedicated farm wife married to a preacher, Brodis Lambey. The story takes place in 1939. Brodis has some very rigid rules for his church members and his family and is often very hard and unyielding in his beliefs. Irenie feels suffocated in the life she lives with Brodis and starts sneaking out at night to take walks in the woods just to be alone. When Brodis discovers these night time wanderings, he believes his wife has become a witch and is consorting with Satan in the woods. The suspense builds as events lead to certain tragedy.
The author has done a wonderful job in describing this troubled marriage and the effect of the cracks that are appearing in their lives on not only the preacher and his wife but also on their teenage son. I cared about each of these characters, including the USDA agent Virginia Furman who befriended Irenie and opened her eyes to the possibility of another life. The author took great care with the mapping out of this story and the unraveling of Brodis’ perception of what was happening around him. I’ve always enjoyed stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and this is an excellent one. It’s haunting and profound and Ms. Franks has an excellent grasp on humanity. Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.
The author has done a wonderful job in describing this troubled marriage and the effect of the cracks that are appearing in their lives on not only the preacher and his wife but also on their teenage son. I cared about each of these characters, including the USDA agent Virginia Furman who befriended Irenie and opened her eyes to the possibility of another life. The author took great care with the mapping out of this story and the unraveling of Brodis’ perception of what was happening around him. I’ve always enjoyed stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and this is an excellent one. It’s haunting and profound and Ms. Franks has an excellent grasp on humanity. Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.
August 27, 2016
Dark and beautifully written. I was amazed by how well crafted it was, the prose was nearly poetic yet never distracted from the story line. The language seemed to fit Appalachia and nature is beautifully depicted. Tough subject matter here, oppression of spirit, the bondage created by unwanted pregnancy, and a zealot's passions. A quote I'll share: "Frazier June was a zealot with the tinder of insanity lit in his eye". This could just as easily have describe Brodis the minister husband and half of this unhappy pairing.
October 18, 2017
I can't remember where I heard about this book, because it isn't published in the UK, but I managed to get hold of a copy from Book Depository. It's mostly the story of Irenie, who in 1939 lives on a farm with her fervent preacher husband Brodis. Irenie, realising that the flame she had shining inside her since she was a girl has gone out, escapes to the woods in the middle of the night where she hides the things that are precious to her. And at the same time she meets the USDA agent's wife, Virginia who encourages her to consider a different life. Brodis meanwhile, seeing his wife leave the bed in the middle of the night, aims to bring her back under his control firstly by physical means and then another way.
It's a wonderful book. Full of rural details of hard lives and landscape, but with a strong story, and a wonderful main character, subtle and deep-thinking, that I was continually rooting for.
Highly recommended.
It's a wonderful book. Full of rural details of hard lives and landscape, but with a strong story, and a wonderful main character, subtle and deep-thinking, that I was continually rooting for.
Highly recommended.
October 18, 2022
“A spellbinding story of witchcraft and disobedience,” indeed. The way Julia Franks writes the two sides of the story and makes them both not just plausible but sympathetic is a feat. The dialogue sounds like home. Will be praising this one far and wide.
May 2, 2016
(DNF @ 16%) Entirely decent historical fiction with a flavor of Ron Rash or Virginia Reeves (Work Like Any Other), but it felt so slow and aimless. Irenie Lambey is married to a harsh fundamentalist preacher named Brodis. She longs for their son to get a good education and hopes that the appearance of a USDA agent may be the chance, but Brodis cares about the boy’s soul rather than his mind. On night-time walks, Irenie stores up artifacts and memories in a cave – desperately trying to have a life larger than what her husband controls. It could well just be my lack of patience, but the believable dialect and solid characters weren’t quite enough to keep me reading.
October 8, 2017
Get this book and read it as fast as you can. Run. Don't walk.
Among the perfect setting of southern Appalachia in the late 1930s-- Julia Franks weaves the incredible and haunting story of Irenie, a woman who mourns the loss of her child, holds space for herself, and who dares to have any modicum of an opinion against her husband--the town preacher. What ensues tells the tale of what happens time and time again throughout the history of nearly every land- men who wreak violence on their families and their villages because of their suspicion of witchcraft whenever a woman steps a single toe out of the lines established by patriarchy and religion.
The best book I've read all year.
Among the perfect setting of southern Appalachia in the late 1930s-- Julia Franks weaves the incredible and haunting story of Irenie, a woman who mourns the loss of her child, holds space for herself, and who dares to have any modicum of an opinion against her husband--the town preacher. What ensues tells the tale of what happens time and time again throughout the history of nearly every land- men who wreak violence on their families and their villages because of their suspicion of witchcraft whenever a woman steps a single toe out of the lines established by patriarchy and religion.
The best book I've read all year.
July 21, 2017
Engrossing read, great descriptions of a time and place.
May 23, 2017
This book seriously wrecked me. If, like me, you're drawn to stunning writing with southern roots you must get your hands on a copy of OVER THE PLAIN HOUSES by Julia Franks. Reading her book was the closest I've come to literary synesthesia. Descriptions of the Appalachian landscape kindled a poetic immersion into the setting without any hint of author intrusion or grandstanding. I fell in love with the writing first, which then lured me into the wood of this haunting story about Irenie and Brodis Lambey and their gifted son Matthew. I'm a picky reader and this book raises the bar for every book that follows...including the ones I write. It's that good.
Read
May 23, 2016Great read for me but probably not for everyone. Prose was beautiful, but the story is about a preacher who is pretty much a zealot and believes his wife is a possession. It includes abortion + more.
January 7, 2024
fundamentalism + gender domination. what could go wrong?
November 5, 2016
3 stars is based on the hope that this novel got better after I had to stop reading it.
I read a fascinating OpEd piece by the author in the NY Times last week which made me curious about her other published work. Like many Americans, I am puzzled by the culture wars raging during this election season, and the attitudes of disenfranchised Southerners and Appalachians in particular. Reviews of "Over the Plain Houses" indicated a dark and brooding novel with themes of religion, superstition, intolerance and transgression. Sign me up!
The book is beautifully designed and typeset. I wish there had been a (more?) forceful editorial presence to curb some of Franks' more nebulous prose excursions into the purple morass.
20 pages in, I read "...the yellow-painted box turtles drawn up tight under winter-rotted logs, the snakes like hairballs in the roots of trees. Likewise the bears suckling their newborns high in the silver-lichened beeches..." and put the book on notice. Maybe this one shan't be my "cup of tea", but at least the warning signs come early.
5 pages later, "She wrapped the pig dropping in a leaf and carried it that way between her thumb and finger. For now." sealed the deal for me. I'm done. For now.
Given some other positive reviews, I'm sure there is a compelling plot to recommend the remainder of this novel for those less troubled by prose style examples I mention.
I read a fascinating OpEd piece by the author in the NY Times last week which made me curious about her other published work. Like many Americans, I am puzzled by the culture wars raging during this election season, and the attitudes of disenfranchised Southerners and Appalachians in particular. Reviews of "Over the Plain Houses" indicated a dark and brooding novel with themes of religion, superstition, intolerance and transgression. Sign me up!
The book is beautifully designed and typeset. I wish there had been a (more?) forceful editorial presence to curb some of Franks' more nebulous prose excursions into the purple morass.
20 pages in, I read "...the yellow-painted box turtles drawn up tight under winter-rotted logs, the snakes like hairballs in the roots of trees. Likewise the bears suckling their newborns high in the silver-lichened beeches..." and put the book on notice. Maybe this one shan't be my "cup of tea", but at least the warning signs come early.
5 pages later, "She wrapped the pig dropping in a leaf and carried it that way between her thumb and finger. For now." sealed the deal for me. I'm done. For now.
Given some other positive reviews, I'm sure there is a compelling plot to recommend the remainder of this novel for those less troubled by prose style examples I mention.
November 3, 2016
This novel is immaculately constructed, from word choice, to sentence level to plot level. It's set in the mountains of North Carolina in 1939, among farmers being persuaded by the USDA to switch from food crops to tobacco. The story centers on a couple, the daughter of a local farmer married to an ex-logger preacher. Tradition vs. modernity, extreme religion vs. the secular world. The characters are vivid, the setting fully realized. I was under the spell of the author the entire time. I can't say enough good things about this book. Those of you who know me know I rarely give even 4 stars, let alone 5.
Full disclosure: I read an early draft of this book and gave feedback to the author.
Full disclosure: I read an early draft of this book and gave feedback to the author.
April 4, 2016
This book was wonderful; I'm a huge fan of world building and the author creates the world of Irenie's and Brodis' farm with such detail that I could have drawn you a map by the end. There is a vivid connection to the nature, too; I felt the seasons and the birds and plants right along with the characters.
I thought that Brodis' descent into madness was also really believable; sometimes that sort of thing can be too quick or just boring-like listening to someone tell you their dreams-but she does a great job taking us step-by-step through his unraveling.
I thought that Brodis' descent into madness was also really believable; sometimes that sort of thing can be too quick or just boring-like listening to someone tell you their dreams-but she does a great job taking us step-by-step through his unraveling.
October 12, 2016
I've been reading stuff trying to understand the hearts of white supremicists/patriarchal guys with entitlement issues, and this is one of the best. The writing is breathtakingly good. The point of view shifts make the minds of both protagonists clear, and the cost of the rigidity of the patriarch is clear.
December 21, 2017
I found this one part lyrical, one part predictable and one part overwrought. I liked the writing, for the most part. excepting the odd painful metaphor, but I found the characterisation and the plot entirely predictable. The ending had a melodramatic inevitability that I predicted from page 20. So, while there was enough to keep me reading, there was little to surprise or delight.
October 19, 2017
Set on a tobacco farm in North Carolina in the late 1930s this is the story of a struggling marriage. Irenie is seeking refuge from an emotionally and physically abusive marriage to her farmer cum preacher husband Brodis. But first she wants an escape for her son, Matthew, and finds it in the form of a boarding school as soon as he turns 13. Brodis is a religious fundamentalist and lives by the bible, quoting it frequently. Irenie initially manages to get away from her at first unsuspecting husband with nocturnal wanderings into the forest. As hi suspicions grow she seeks more drastic measures.
This is a novel that describes the period in US history beautifully, this is how people lived. Positively, there are people who help Irenie, and those rays of light make the otherwise dark subject matter very readable.
This is a novel that describes the period in US history beautifully, this is how people lived. Positively, there are people who help Irenie, and those rays of light make the otherwise dark subject matter very readable.
May 19, 2018
This novel initially attracted my attention with its black magic/witchcraft theme, but it sat on on my Kindle until the author won the Townsend Prize last month. That sparked me into action and I moved it up on my list. Once I started reading this story, I had a difficult time with it and honestly considered quitting it several times...but I stuck with it. The problem for me was that Julia Frank's writing style is not modern and I found myself rereading several sentences to get the flow. My note to anyone who is going to read this is that you need to be aware of this, but stick with your reading and you will be greatly rewarded.
When you think of religious fundamentalism and gender oppression, you probably don't think about the mountains of North Carolina in 1939, but Julia Franks blends the Salem witch trials with modern evangelicalism to produce a wonderful work of fiercely feminist historical fiction.
When you think of religious fundamentalism and gender oppression, you probably don't think about the mountains of North Carolina in 1939, but Julia Franks blends the Salem witch trials with modern evangelicalism to produce a wonderful work of fiercely feminist historical fiction.
July 9, 2016
This book is a beautiful glimpse into the heartbreak that is the dissolution of a marriage and the descent of a spouse into fundamentalist extremist madness.
Some of the reviewers dnf'ed it, claiming they couldn't get "into it" and "nothing happens." I always wonder what it is those readers are looking for. This is historical fiction set in 1939 in a poor rural mountain community in the Carolinas. There's no tv, no radio - no excitement. Just the same 50 or so people day in, day out. Working to stay alive. Their world is in the brink of change - war, education, modernization. They are mistrustful at best, unwelcoming, fearful and hostile at worst.
The story is slow-moving, painting images of people mostly happy with the way things are, anger and resentment towards those offering a glimpse of a different life. One woman who has begun to question the sameness, the settling and has grown to fear her husband's extremist ideals because she wants opportunity for her son, whose intelligence has made him an outcast in the community.
She takes to wandering the hills at night, secreting away her precious memory tokens of her son, growing towards adulthood, and of a daughter who died. At night - the only time when toil, obligation and routine don't claim her. So the logical conclusion is that obviously she's a witch. You know, instead of a lonely woman deeply affected by sadness facing middle-age and the rest of her life locked into routine by a domineering husband she no longer loves. Pot-stirring, rabble-rousing witch. Clearly.
This book is a lot like Maud's Line: both beautiful, moving portraits of intelligent, resourceful women on the cusp of change without the necessary education to rise above the sameness of what they've always known. Dreamers, rebels.
The spoiled, entitled girls of today owe themselves to women like Maud and Irenie. The characters in these books possess a grace of the ordinary and an ability to persevere that is lost today. The same government that brought in FDA agents to help teach and modernize poor communities is the same government that buckled to demand and created an entire subculture of people entitled to living off food stamps and other programs without lifting a finger on their own behalf other than to take and complain.
In 1939 and now, sadly, a woman with innate intelligence is viewed with suspicion, an outcast. If not labelled a witch, then surely an uppity bitch.
A breeding ground for tragedy.
I liked this book. A lot. I fear, like Maud's Line, it won't attain the level of readership it should. Because it isn't action-packed with sexy supernatural creatures. There is comfort in knowing that those who do read it will be just like me - touched deeply and perhaps questioning the way things are and the way they "should be." It is hard, stuck in the everyday sameness of routine to recognize and embrace the difficulty of change. Change is there, nonetheless.
If you think that's you, read this book. Like me, you just might be a wandering witch.
Some of the reviewers dnf'ed it, claiming they couldn't get "into it" and "nothing happens." I always wonder what it is those readers are looking for. This is historical fiction set in 1939 in a poor rural mountain community in the Carolinas. There's no tv, no radio - no excitement. Just the same 50 or so people day in, day out. Working to stay alive. Their world is in the brink of change - war, education, modernization. They are mistrustful at best, unwelcoming, fearful and hostile at worst.
The story is slow-moving, painting images of people mostly happy with the way things are, anger and resentment towards those offering a glimpse of a different life. One woman who has begun to question the sameness, the settling and has grown to fear her husband's extremist ideals because she wants opportunity for her son, whose intelligence has made him an outcast in the community.
She takes to wandering the hills at night, secreting away her precious memory tokens of her son, growing towards adulthood, and of a daughter who died. At night - the only time when toil, obligation and routine don't claim her. So the logical conclusion is that obviously she's a witch. You know, instead of a lonely woman deeply affected by sadness facing middle-age and the rest of her life locked into routine by a domineering husband she no longer loves. Pot-stirring, rabble-rousing witch. Clearly.
This book is a lot like Maud's Line: both beautiful, moving portraits of intelligent, resourceful women on the cusp of change without the necessary education to rise above the sameness of what they've always known. Dreamers, rebels.
The spoiled, entitled girls of today owe themselves to women like Maud and Irenie. The characters in these books possess a grace of the ordinary and an ability to persevere that is lost today. The same government that brought in FDA agents to help teach and modernize poor communities is the same government that buckled to demand and created an entire subculture of people entitled to living off food stamps and other programs without lifting a finger on their own behalf other than to take and complain.
In 1939 and now, sadly, a woman with innate intelligence is viewed with suspicion, an outcast. If not labelled a witch, then surely an uppity bitch.
A breeding ground for tragedy.
I liked this book. A lot. I fear, like Maud's Line, it won't attain the level of readership it should. Because it isn't action-packed with sexy supernatural creatures. There is comfort in knowing that those who do read it will be just like me - touched deeply and perhaps questioning the way things are and the way they "should be." It is hard, stuck in the everyday sameness of routine to recognize and embrace the difficulty of change. Change is there, nonetheless.
If you think that's you, read this book. Like me, you just might be a wandering witch.
July 14, 2016
I did not want this book to end. Beautifully written like poetry, a spellbinding story about the harsh and primitive struggles of a young woman married to a fundamentalist Appalachian preacher. A peek into the past where superstitions and misunderstood beliefs provide excuses for self-righteous mean behavior. Historical fiction at its best.
March 31, 2016
Review to follow.
August 7, 2024
The writing is rich, evocative, and immersive, and the storyline is engaging with a consistent but unrushed pace. It's so impressive for a debut novel. There are multiple scenes in the book that will live in my mind for a long time. I selected this novel for my book club, and I'm so glad I did; almost everyone loved it.
May 28, 2018
loved it! Haunting and thought-provoking. Great setting, characters, suspenseful plot, and superbly written. Can't stop thinking about it. I almost want to immediately pick it up and re-read.
Eager to discuss it with someone.
Eager to discuss it with someone.
November 17, 2016
Not sure what to say...it is one of my book club reads. It started off a little odd and then I was intrigued and couldn't put it down until I knew what happened to Irenie, Matthew, Brodis and the Extension Office agents. It presents an interesting time in American history in an interesting part of rural North Carolina. Powerful issues around the strength of the church and how it and the powerful men in the church controlled women during the 1930's. Also, I found the added "we're from the government and we're here to help" aspect an interesting influence to the storyline! It's not a "feel good" book, but even though it shows the struggles of the times, it also showed how they survived.
January 28, 2025
YIKES!!! either set in 1939.... or somewhere in project 2025 (?)
chilling at times (not in a good way!)
low 4... audio (with kinda slow reading).. prob. would have rated higher as a paper book/reading in my own headvoice etc..
a handful of memorable moments- but overall, sort of just ok/a story we already know...
i wish there had been about 3 more characters. would have been nice to have more variety of conflict.
((or maybe would have preferred to hear the son's story instead...?))
chilling at times (not in a good way!)
low 4... audio (with kinda slow reading).. prob. would have rated higher as a paper book/reading in my own headvoice etc..
a handful of memorable moments- but overall, sort of just ok/a story we already know...
i wish there had been about 3 more characters. would have been nice to have more variety of conflict.
((or maybe would have preferred to hear the son's story instead...?))
July 31, 2017
Started out rough but got pretty interesting! Liked the ending. It's written differently than I've read before. Sometimes I didn't know what they were trying to say but overall the story was okay.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews